Off the Fringe, “Golf’s best short read.” The award winning newsletter, sent twice monthly, that provides an unconventional perspective on the golf world.
Golfer Bob
Finksburg
2008-10-16
$31 (cart included), played on Wednesday, June 2007 at 10am
Have played River Downs, aka Francis Scott Key, about four times over the last six years or so, whenever I am in a moment of weakness, or someone really talks me into it. It is a TERRIBLE course, by any name.
It was built as part of a development, and it sits on the land where houses could not be built for various reasons. It is very vertical, and totally unwalkable. Some of the views are nice, but playability is not a consideration here. The course was built with the idea of being public for a while, then converting to private as the homeowners bought memberships: that did not happen for a lot reasons, principal among them being the quality of the course.
The architect did not have much to work with terrain-wise, and he lived down to his material. Some examples of horrible holes: #1, a par 5, is downhill, over a wide ravine to an uphill fairway with a green tucked between three bunkers. It is fairly easy to drive through the fairway into the junk, and when laid up, it is a daunting shot across the gully from the downhill lie. #2 is a very long par 4, with a lengthy second shot requiring an approach over that same gully, going back the other way: most human beings play that hole as a par 5. #3 is a short par 3, but the green is tucked behind some serious moguls on the right front, and then slopes away SEVERELY to the left: very hard to keep the ball on the green. I could go on, but you get the picture.
The staff is generally nice, but they take a lot of abuse from customers who play here for the first time, then come back in to complain about the course. STAY AWAY!
Would travel: 0-10 Miles, Not Vacation Worthy
Bottom line: Worse than average course for the area
$31 (cart included), played on Wednesday, June 2007 at 10am
Have played River Downs, aka Francis Scott Key, about four times over the last six years or so, whenever I am in a moment of weakness, or someone really talks me into it. It is a TERRIBLE course, by any name.
It was built as part of a development, and it sits on the land where houses could not be built for various reasons. It is very vertical, and totally unwalkable. Some of the views are nice, but playability is not a consideration here. The course was built with the idea of being public for a while, then converting to private as the homeowners bought memberships: that did not happen for a lot reasons, principal among them being the quality of the course.
The architect did not have much to work with terrain-wise, and he lived down to his material. Some examples of horrible holes: #1, a par 5, is downhill, over a wide ravine to an uphill fairway with a green tucked between three bunkers. It is fairly easy to drive through the fairway into the junk, and when laid up, it is a daunting shot across the gully from the downhill lie. #2 is a very long par 4, with a lengthy second shot requiring an approach over that same gully, going back the other way: most human beings play that hole as a par 5. #3 is a short par 3, but the green is tucked behind some serious moguls on the right front, and then slopes away SEVERELY to the left: very hard to keep the ball on the green. I could go on, but you get the picture.
The staff is generally nice, but they take a lot of abuse from customers who play here for the first time, then come back in to complain about the course. STAY AWAY!